Switch-hitter Daniel Nava and his .322 batting average versus right-handed pitching is finally back in the lineup after Red Sox manager John Farrell repeatedly benched him in favor of righty bat Jonny Gomes. Beyond that it’s a typical Boston lineup.

See, now this is interesting. Tigers manager Jim Leyland has dropped slumping leadoff man Austin Jackson into the eighth spot and moved everyone else up, which means Torii Hunter is batting leadoff for the first time since 1999 and Miguel Cabrera is hitting second. Statistical studies have shown that a team’s best hitter should typically bat No. 2, but obviously most managers don’t buy into that. Cabrera has hit second just twice in his career, both in 2004 when he was a 21-year-old with the Marlins. Jhonny Peralta is back in the outfield, with Jose Iglesias manning shortstop, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire lineup is that Leyland didn’t find a way to start Don Kelly somewhere.

It doesn’t look good for the Tigers—- Teams that are not hitting a lick in the playoffs usually do not immediately start hitting. All the hitters look tired, and late. These last games will be close, and tightly played.

As a Red Sox fan, I didn’t mind having Gomes and his inferior numbers in the lineup and Nava out. Gomes had a hit, narrowly missed a home run, and made a nice defensive play yesterday. He’s a smart player who never seems to hurt the Sox. If they were going to start Gomes against Verlander, why not start him against Fister?